Contact-box and conductor for electric or tramways.



N0. 762,319. PATBNTED JUNE 14, 1904. D. KEMPT.

CONTACT BOX AND CONDUCTOR POR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS 0R TRAMWA'YS. APPLIUATION FILED SEPT 2s. 190s.

me Noam?. Parras co, Norammo. wAsmrfcTcN. n.2

. having a contact-box fitted alongside.

UNITED STATES Patented June 14, 1904.

vPATENT OFFICE.

CONTACT-BOX AND CONDUCTOR FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS 0R TRAMWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,319, dated June 14, 1904.

Application lled September 23,1903. Serial No. 174,329. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, DONALD KEMPT, surgeon dentist, asubject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Buenos Aires, Argentina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contact-Boxes and Oonductors for Electric Railways or Tramways, (for which an application has been filed in Great Britain, Patent No. 5,938, bearing date March 14, 1903,) of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention has reference to and cornprises improvements relating to contact-boxes and conductors for electric railways and tramways; and it consists of improvements in the construction of contact-boxes by means of which electricity is conveyed from the main conductor to collectors arranged 0n a tramway-car or other railway-vehicle as it passes in succession each contact-box of the series.

In order that others skilled Vin Vthe art to which my invention relates may understand the nature of my improvements, I have hereunto appended one sheet of explanatory drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of part of a tramway-rail Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same, taken on the line Q 2 in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation at right angles to Fig. 2, taken on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2, while Fig. 4 is an elevation of the side of the contact-box next the rail.

Referring to the gures, at spaced distances apartwsay about two-thirds of the length, more or less, of the car to which the improvements are being applied-breaks 1 are formed in the inside edge of one of therails 15 by cutting away part of the inner edge-say about thirteen inches in lengthmat each of these breaks and close to the rail; but sepa? rated from it by liber or other suitable insulating material 9 contact-boxes 2' are placed, is no electrical connection between the plate through which one of the main conductors or l cable 3 passes, the rail on the other side'or the track being lused as the return-conductor. The casing 2 of eachcontact-box is of a size to nearly fill the space of the break 1 in the t rail andis hollow and rectangular and divided into upper and lower sections 4 and 5. The lower one, 5, is put down lirst, and after the main conductor 3 is passed through the upper part of it the upper section 4 is bolted or otherwise Vsecured onto it. The upper section has `a removable top 6, which is bolted to the part 4, so that it can be easily removed for cleaning or repair. In this top 6 is iitted a sliding plate 7, running in grooves in each side, having a raised edge 8 to correspond with the inner side of the rail, and the gap caused by the break 1 is nearly filled by the edge 8, the front 9 of the contact-box being formed of or covered with non-conducting material. Through the center of the top 6 .and attached to the sliding plate 7 is a prong 10, consisting of two parts secured together at 10X, which makes contact with a metal plate 11, attached to the main conductor or cable 3 inside the box. To the upper end of this prong 10, but underneath the top, is attached a plate 12, with two rods 13 running through it, on which are springs 14, which may be of rubber, to keep the prong just out of contact till the slide 7 is forced inward by the pressure of one of the conductors on the car. The contact-boxes are partly formed of or covered outside with suitable insulating material.

As the car progresses when the conductors on the car, which may run in the grooves of the rail 15, come opposite each break 1 in the rail theyv come into contact with the edge 8 of the sliding plate 7, which conductors force inward the said plate, causing the prong 10 to make contact with the metal plate 11, attached to the main conductor 3 within the boX, and thus theY circuit is completed from the main conductor 3 to the motor on the car through the conductors thereon.

It will be understood that when the plate 7 Hhas its .edge 8 in line with the rails and is capable of being touched by the car-wheels there and;V main conductor. When the plate 7 is IOO hicles the combination of an outer easing, a top plate sliding in grooves therein, a prong secured to said plate, a contact-plate on the main conductor and springs interposed between the prong and the casing substantiallyv as set forth.

2. In contact-boxes for transmitting electric current from the rnain conductor to oonduotors on electric railway or tramway Vehi- IO cles the combination comprising the casing 2,

the sliding top plate 7, the prong l0, the plate 12, the rods 13, the springs 14,- and the contact-plate 11 substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereoil I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

DONALD KEMPT. Witnesses:

F. S. BATTLEY, F. H. MILLER. 

